Back in the 1990s...I was stationed at Ramstein, and got into a conversation with a American retired GI....who had this interesting economic story.
In the region of Ramstein....some German developer had acquired a farm area that was 15 minutes driving from the east-gate and west-gate. He had this idea of property development.....building houses which were attractive to Americans, and 'pricey' (meaning that he knew the max-housing pay-out for senior NCOs, and most officers....which was about 2 times what a German would pay.
The development would end up as fifty homes....all upscale....this plotted around 1980-1982 timeframe.
Local wealthy well-to-do Germans bought the homes, and were to be used as rentals...paying the German back more quickly, and thus getting the bank mortgage done ten years prior to 'normal'. In your retirement years....this was a big-deal for added pension status.
The key failure? Well....the developer had two 'books'....for the construction guys/tax authorities. He brought in non-Germans and non-EU folks....cash-basis, and avoided a lot of tax reporting. He got into divorce trouble, and the wife reported.....which got him several years in prison.
Yeah, the houses still sold, and throughout the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s....it's paid well.
If the base were to close....the money-maker would collapse.
Around Ramstein today? I'd guess that twenty-odd developments and apartment buildings like this exist. The number of businesses, cafes, restaurant that have 50-percent American GI? A humble guess at more than a hundred....maybe going toward 150.
Yeah, they've worked hard to build up a economic bubble.
If it were to close? In the first year alone....there's likely to be 2,000 insolvencies to be declared....with a minimum of 1,000 apartments/homes to be laying there vacant....some for five to ten years.
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Changes and progress at little old Bad Kissingen has actually benefited BK. This goragous spa town is uplifted by "us" leaving all together. Military presence gone, except for a token display. Permanently lowering the flag at Wurzburg Army Hospital was a bit of a shocker though.
Enviornmental damages from waste left over from ammo dumps, motor pools, fuels, etc... have hopefully been addressed, although one should consider Daley Barracks was originaly also a German Kaserne too.
Full disclosure means admitting being first employed on the "economy" with a Frankfurt bank in the mid 1970's, leaving for about a year and returning with the military.
To appreciate life and reside for years in both of those worlds under totally different circumstances gives one an appetite. More of an addiction to go far from home, reliving the past while experiencing the new and hopefuly improved present.
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